IMSO 2018 China

Experiment Test 28 September - 4 October 2018

PART II
MAXIMUM VOLUME OF THE CARGO

Archimedes Principle has very important applications with regards to boats and ships floating on
water and the maximum cargo that can be loaded. In general:

Mass of the boat and cargo Mass of the water that the boat displaced

In this experiment, design and conduct an experiment in order to determine the maximum volume
of a precious kind of sand that can be carried by your small plastic boat on fresh water (density =
1.0 g/ml) before the boat sinks so as to decide the storage space required (and of course, your
sand must stay dry). You are given only a small sample of the precious sand as well as the
following items below to carry out your test. Remember, your sample of sand should not touch
the water as it will take extremely long to dry!

Plastic cup containing a small sample of the sand

Boat (Plastic container that floats on water)
Standard masses and paper clips
Electronic mass balance
100 ml measuring cylinder, 250 ml measuring cylinder
250 ml beaker
30 cm Ruler
Water
Plastic container (for testing)
Cloth (for drying)

AIM OF THE EXPERIMENT

The aim of this experiment is to design the procedure, conduct the experiment, and determine
the maximum volume of sand that can be carried by the boat.
In your plan, write down the measurements and apparatus used very clearly including any
necessary calculations. You need not use all the apparatus given.

QUESTIONS:

(a) Sea water has a slightly higher density than water (about 1.03 g/ml). Would you expect
the volume of sand that can be carried to be smaller than, equal to or larger than the
volume you determined for fresh water in your previous design? Explain.

(b) Your boat is to transport the sand across the seas (salt water) but the harbors between
the two ports contains fresh water. Will it be better to carry out the test still using fresh
water or should salt water be used or should both be used and determine the average?
Explain briefly.
IMSO 2018 China
Experiment Test 28 September - 4 October 2018

PART II: MAXIMUM CARGO

Design:
IMSO 2018 China
Experiment Test 28 September - 4 October 2018

PART II: MAXIMUM CARGO

Results:

QUESTIONS:

(a) Sea water has a slightly higher density than water (about 1.03 g/cm3). Would you expect
the volume of sand that can be carried to be smaller than, equal to or larger than the
volume you determined for fresh water in your previous design? Explain.

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(b) Your boat is to transport the sand across the seas (salt water) but the harbors between
the two ports contains fresh water. Will it be better to carry out the test still using fresh
water or should salt water be used or should both be used and determine the average?
Explain briefly.

______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
IMSO 2018 China
Experiment Test 28 September - 4 October 2018